Paolo Di Canio blames ‘stupid’ players who gamble on football games and hints they feel too protected by their clubs: ‘I was terrorized at Juventus.’
The former West Ham, Lazio and Juventus striker had his say on the recent betting scandal involving some Italian players such as Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Fagioli.
The Juventus midfielder has agreed on a plea bargain with the FIGC Prosecutor, receiving a seven-month ban, while Tonali’s lawyers are in talks with FIGC today, Monday, October 23.
The Newcastle midfielder could be banned for more than a year having reportedly admitted to gambling on his former clubs Milan and Brescia.
“There are a million things they could do. [Bet on] cats, dogs, hamsters. I am not suggesting anything. Of course, it would be better not to gamble at all. Did you bet on football? You must be empty. This is stupidity. You must be stupid,” Di Canio told Sky Sport.
“There are different plans. We are not talking about match-fixing here. Luckily this is not the case. There are different plans regarding gambling addiction too. So, what was the problem?
“When I joined Juventus, I came from a tough [Rome] neighbourhood. I didn’t fear facing a club director. One day, during a training session, Morini told me: ‘President Boniperti wants to talk to you today.’
“I was terrorized, really,” the former striker revealed.
“They kept me waiting for three hours. I asked everyone why he wanted to talk to me. Nobody knew. When I entered the room, Boniperti asked: ‘Where were you last night?’ I replied: ‘I was out for dinner.’ He asked again: ‘When did you get home?’ and I answered: ‘10.30 pm.’
“‘It’s too late,’ said Boniperti.
“I am not joking,” continued Di Canio.
“It was 10.30 and he said it was too late. I was very young so I think it was a preventive measure. Really, I was terrorized. I thought they would freeze me out of the team. I was asking myself: ‘What have I done?’
“Now times have changed. I don’t want to attack club directors, they have central roles, they have many distractions, and they have much more relations than in the past. But that being said, certain things cannot be justified.”
Di Canio scored seven goals in 112 appearances with Juventus before joining Napoli and Milan. He also played for Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United and Charlton in England.
He returned to Italy in 2004 joining Lazio for the second time in his career. Di Canio retired in 2008 after two seasons at Cisco Roma in Serie C2. He scored 32 goals in 254 Serie A games and 66 goals in 190 Premier League appearances.